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Hello everyone,
I just recently got a 2001 Honda Civic EX 4 door and i was wondering what type of sound system i should go with to add some bass. Im not sure if i want 2 10's or a 12" or even what brand. Im tight on cash but i want some great sound. Im also not sure what deck or amp to go with. I dont really know anything about systems all i know is i want my ride to shake.

 
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jsut about any sub will make ur car shake. how clean u want them to shake is how much $ u got the shall out.

L7, L5, type-R are just some of the good ones that arent too pricey.

 
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Make sure you get a good amp, cause your subs are only as good as your amp. I have 2 12" MTX subs powered by a Rockford Fosgate amp, and it shakes allright, make sure you get Dynamat or Fatmat!

Brands of subs that are good, IMO: Rockford Fosgate, MTX, Kicker, Alpine, JL Audio.
Brands of amps that are good, IMO: Rockford Fosgate, JL Audio, Alpine.
Good deck brands: Pioneer, Alpine, Clarion, Sony(If you just want it to bang with a mono amp).

Try going to your local Bestbuy,or w/e and see what you like.

Hope this helps

 
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yeah unfortunately this is one of those things where you get what you pay for. quality is everyhting with this though.

 
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highly disagree... sony xplode's are a piece and even sony knows it. lol they are sonld at walmart for petes sake!

but also dont forget about Memphis, Boston Acoustics

 
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He was talking about the Desk for Sony, not sub. Although I would never buy a sony deck either.

 
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I totally agree with LT2004ever, but I mean if the sole purpose of your system is just to rattle the car, I think Sony for a deck is okay.

 
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http://www.ascendantaudio.com/products.php

 
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i say JL for everything. if you cant afford that alpine is good too. so is kicker and kenwood. if you're a bit lower on cash i'd say pioneer or mtx. stay away from sony. decks wise i would rank them: alpine, pioneer, clarion, panasonic (maybe i forgot one speak up if u disagree. if you're lookin for thump and ur low on cash kijiji, craigslist, ebay are your best friend. ive spent less than $500 on car audio and i was able to hit 132.2db in spl. im running 2 12" JL w0's alpine deck and cheap amp i got with my first set of subs (i blew them) it runs around 150w rms to each sub. i cant justify spending any more on car audio than this. i built the box myself. its easy, cheap and will thump harder than a box u buy if you research box building techniques. also bigger box almost always = louder.

 
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I've got a boatload of Alpine. It's all pretty good, but you do need a good set of amps. And yes, you do get what you pay for.

- Pioneer Premier AVIC-F90BT deck.
- Two sets of Alpine Type-X 6.5" 2-way components (front + rear).
- Two 10" Alpine Type-R subs.
- Generic Bassworx ported box for two 10" subs (something I will replace with a custom trunk job later).
- Alpine PDX-1.1000 amp for the subs.
- Alpine PDX-4.100 amp for the components.
- Alpine PDX-2.150 amp - was when I only had one set of components for the front. I'll probably wire it up in mono to push the stock 8" sub in the back, or replace that 8" with an after-market. I can push up to 300-watts on this 2.150 if wired in mono.

I guess some opinions I can share with you:
If you go for upper-end subs, you're going to need equivalently-beefy amplifiers to drive them properly. I also find the top-range models for some vendors might be more geared towards SPL in competitions than proper sound reproduction / quality, so don't worry about going for the top.

Just remember that under-driving a speaker is bad - the amp puts constant charge through the coils, but not enough to really drive them enough so they move. If they don't move air, they don't cool down, which leads to overheating and damage. You also run the risk of overdriving speakers if they're put past their peak.
I think since they're underdriven, you're more likely to increase the volume as compensation - that's where your damage potential goes up.


For my setup as above, I decided to go with with Alpine Type-R subs; they're awesome bang for the buck, they're a little better than the JL W3s, and they're easy to wire (2 or 4 ohm and dual-voice coil). If you had to go with the JL brand, I'd say go with W6s - a step up from the Alpine Type-Rs, but also a bit more expensive.
These mid-range subs can and will be REALLY loud if you want them to be... probably way louder than most people want to be exposed to for long, honestly.
Chances are you'll be happy with midrange to upper-midrange equipment, like the Apline Type-Rs or the JL Audio W3 to W6 range. There are other brands, too... honestly, the price range is enough to base this on, for the most part.

The sub box you go with is a major deal as well, so don't skimp on this! Generally you should go sealed if you want a better bass response / accuracy.
I have a ported box because I went from 12" subs to 10", and wanted to compensate for that reduction. The ported box tends to favor certain lower frequencies more than a sealed box, but drops off faster as you get higher in frequency.
Finally a band-pass box is just not worth considering, if you care about how your music sounds. They favor an envelope of frequencies and half-*** anything above or below that. It's a hard-to-master this setup, hard on the subs if not done perfectly, and hard on the ears, to tell you the truth. Not a fan.


Bottom line on choosing your bass:
If you're just going to play music nice and loud without getting silly with competitions and pissing off the neighborhood, the Type-Rs / midrange products will be more than enough. The Type-Rs are pretty tight and reproduce sound very well. The JL audios are also extremely good overall, but I'd stay away from their lower-end stuff; they have quite a bit of markup on their units due to brand popularity, and unfortunately you don't get as much bang (or boom) for the buck, this way.


Speakers: My Components are 75-watt RMS, each pair, driven fine at 100-watts each from the 4-channel amp. But for better output, you'd get something that outputs closer to peak instead.
Having amps that can push way over your peak isn't really a problem off the bat, but you have to be extra mindful not to over-extend the poor things when you crank it up. And you'd be wasting your money having such a beefy amp and weedy speakers anyway.

Don't give up on doing your speakers; you might want to START there, actually. Subs are great, but unless if you have real speakers to work with them, your music's going to sound pretty ***, overwhelmed by intense bass.


Special notes:
The PDX1.1000 is a hell of an amp, I'm totally pleased. JL's pretty comparable with their recent ones, with both vendors producing some very efficient amps. The PDXes are so efficient, they don't even need cooling fans and still push their rated power (plus more; they have a comfortable overhead, actually).

Also, you might consider looking at CrutchFieldCanada for an example of JL Audio sub+box kits that you can get. The JL Audio subs-in-a-box (readily wired!) deals are pretty interesting... they have some really awesome high-output boxes you might be interested in giving a shot, but I'm still unsure how they compare in terms of sound quality to a normal ported box. I'm thinking of moving to a standard sealed box with the new custom build later, anyway.



Edit: Finally, you're running an 01 Civic. I had one as well; I was pushing about 1300 watts on the stock alternator, which is probably a bad idea in the long term... you might have to look at getting a high-output alternator, so it won't burn yours out. If you notice consistent dimming of your lights (e.g. bass note comes on, lights stay dim the entire note), it might be something to consider.

If you notice the lights just flicker, but do not stay dim for prolonged notes, it's just fine; get a capacitor. 1 Farad per 1000 watts. I don't have any, FYI.

Edit2: I'm driving an 08 Accord. Alternators in newer cars have to push more general crap, so this one will hold out okay, I thiiink. Still gotta keep an eye on it. There are ways of calculating, but I haven't bothered to yet.

 
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Okay, just to make it simple for you (the above had a ton of info):

- Maybe a Pioneer deck? I had a DEH-P880PRS, though that's a "premier" model that's naturally a bit more expensive. Most importantly, use something that you can use comfortably and quickly! Don't hit something trying to navigate the damn thing.
- Personally, I suggest Alpine Type-R subs. One might be enough, FYI. 12" if you know you listen to deep electronic/hip-hop stuff. 10" if you like rock music. I went with 2x 10"s.
- Get a decent box. Bassworx are decent, there are probably better for the same price.
- Get an appropriate amp. These are expensive, naturally. No real recommendations... my PDXes are expensive and almost top-tier for Alpine. Good luck on this area.
- Get 4ga wire for power and a properly rated fuse. Ensure your ground points are done very well and to the same point. Sand this area.
- Run RCA wires down one side of the car and power wires down the other. This prevents possible noise.
- Consider another amp and speaker set(s). Your Civic might not have tweeter locations, so you might end up either using Qlogic aftermarket kickpanels for the speakers + tweets or drill them into your door yourself/professionally. I went with the custom kickpanels, which turned out pretty swanky.
- Anti-theft is worth consideration if you've poured a lot of money in this thing...
- Aforementioned consideration for new alternator, too.
- Dynamat for the trunk interior might be considered, but I guarantee something will rattle. I jammed stuff in corners and in the rear deck/console (the biggest problem area) to silence it. Proper dynamatting after ripping that deck out would be the best, though.
- Maybe consider iPod controls for the aftermarket deck! Say goodbye to CDs, man.